Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS) Early Career Fellows Program 2018/2019 for early career researchers (Funded)

This 12-month fellowship program aims at enabling early career researchers, up to three years out of the PhD, to pursue their research and publishing plans, become part of Arab research networks, and plan a research career in the Arab region.

This initiative complements the efforts of the ACSS in supporting and promoting the social sciences in the Arab region, particularly in terms of investing in a new generation of social science researchers.

Eligibility Criteria:

The fellowship will be awarded competitively to junior scholars who meet the criteria described below. There is a special interest in attracting foreign-trained Arab scholars back to the region.

Applicants are eligible if they:

Are citizens or nationals of an Arab country: An Arab country is defined by its membership in the League of Arab States. The term “national” refers to full-time and long-term residents of an Arab State, including those who do not have citizenship, as in the case of stateless refugees. Arab scholars residing outside the region at the time of application would be eligible, however only if they hold an Arab citizenship and are not in a tenure-track position and/or do not have access to research resources from their institution and/or country of residence. All fellows, including those residing outside the region at the time of their application, will be expected to spend the period of their fellowship in the Arab region.

Are junior scholars: This program targets scholars who are 0-3 years out of a PhD program in the social sciences (obtained from within or outside the Arab region). Applicants should have obtained their PhDs at the time of application.

Show high quality academic credentials and promise: Applicants are expected to submit a proposal (10-15 pages) that builds on their PhD dissertation. Proposals that are not based on or not related closely to the applicant’s PhD dissertation will not be considered eligible. The proposal should highlight the applicant’s academic credentials and outline a compelling research problem. The applicant is also expected to provide a publications plan as well as a 3-year career plan.

Provide proof of support by a proposed mentor and institution: Applicants should provide a letter at the time of application from an academic mentor based in an institution in the Arab region in which he/she expresses willingness to provide administrative and academic support and supervision to the prospective fellow during the period of his/her fellowship. In addition, applicants should provide a letter from the hosting institution addressed to the Arab Council for the Social Sciences expressing the institution’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of fellowship.

Terms of the Fellowship:

The fellowships will provide 12 months of full support (living expenses plus research expenses) with a total stipend ranging between $20,000 and $36,000. The total amount depends on the respective price levels in the proposed country/countries where the fellow will be residing during his/her fellowship as well as whether or not the fellow will have other sources of income during the fellowship period. If shortlisted, applicants will be asked to provide a budget estimating (1) the costs of living, (2) the costs of research; and (3) indicate whether or not they will have any other sources of funding and/or income during the period of the fellowship.

Accepted applicants are expected to provide a well-thought financial plan before signing the contract.

Travel funding at an average of $900 for each fellow will also be provided for those seeking affiliation with an institution outside their home country or country of residence.

The fellow will be expected to attend at least two events (i.e. workshops, research forum and/or conference) organized by the ACSS during the term of the fellowship and to present their work to their peers and to senior scholars. Expenses of participation in such events will be covered separately by the ACSS.

Each fellow will be requested to contribute an abstract concerning their project for the ACSS website.

Each fellow will be expected to write one working paper to appear as a prepublication in the ACSS Working Paper Series. (Please see the guidelines for the Working Paper Series here.)

Application Procedure:

Required Documents at the Time of Application:

Applicants are required to create an account and a Profile Page on the ACSS Applications Platform, then apply to the fellowship using the online application form for the Early Career Fellows Program, and provide the following supporting documents:

A detailed CV

A one-page cover letter

A proof of nationality or residence in the Arab region

A project proposal (10-15 pages): detailing the activities that the fellow intends to undertake during the fellowship period. Please note that all submitted proposals will be checked on a plagiarism detection software.

A letter from a mentor based in an academic institution in the region, who expresses his/her willingness to supervise and mentor the applicant during his/her proposed fellowship period

A detailed CV of the proposed mentor

An official letter from a hosting institution addressed to the Arab Council for the Social Sciences expressing the institution’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of fellowship

Timeline:

June 15, 2018: Deadline for submissions.

Last week of July 2018: Decisions are communicated to applicants.

August 2018: Accepted applicants sign their contracts.

September 2018: Fellowship starts.

April 2019: Present at the ACSS Fourth Biennial Conference in Beirut-Lebanon.